Guided 3 week tour around New Zealand's Southern Alps for 5-8 people who would enjoy being led by a New Zealander knowledgable on New Zealand culture and history and enthusiastic about sharing it during his Christmas break from teaching English in Emilia Romagna. Optional extra week in Australia.

A select NZ wine to go each day with a scenically located picnic lunch of fresh gourmet local delicacies. A quality restaurant for an evening meal of fusion Pacific Rim cuisine: local seafood and meat with a dash of the Orient and a touch of Polynesia.

Circling the Southern Alps in a minivan we stay in intimate stylish lodgings nestled in bush, lakeside or mountain high. The draw of the South Island is that the landscape is always changing.  We fly to Christchurch from Milan, cross the Southern Alps, follow the rugged West Coast then go inland to the southern lakes and Mount Cook.

To best experience the Middle Earth of Lord of the Rings we jet boat rivers and cruise lakes, meander around mirror glass lakes and swim with dolphins or watch whales at sea. For those who wish there is the option of rafting, kayaking, scenic flights and more.
And your guide can always dress up as Frodo.

The emphasis is on avoiding the crowds and learning about a land so isolated that no sizeable animals evolved there and the birds dominated. A place where humans first arrived little more than c.1000 years ago.
                                                                
Your guide from Bologna to New Zealand and round the Southern Alps is CJ Turner, a Kiwi based in Bologna. He takes you anti-clockwise on the southern loop below, starting and finishing in Christchurch where he lived as a student.

The hard part
There's a reason why New Zealand is clean, green and uncrowded: it is on precisely the opposite side of the globe from Italy, so the flight there is a long and tiring one of about 6 hours and a night in Dubai then c. 20 hours to Christchurch.

A minimum of five people needed per tour.

For more on New Zealand please visit purenz.com

To see the full programme, gallery and accommodation for the last tour to New Zealand click on the days below.